Souare thanked Xu for attending the ceremony as President Hu's special envoy, adding that the people of both countries have built profound ties of friendship since his country's independence and the Guinean people highly appreciate the sincere help China has offered to their country.

Guinea attaches great importance to bilateral relations with China and hopes to reinforce friendly cooperation in resource exploration and infrastructure construction, he added.

The prime minister also reaffirmed Guinea's adherence to the one- China policy.

Conveying greetings from Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Xu Shaoshi, also Land and Resources Minister, said bilateral political mutual trust has been growing since China and Guinea forged diplomatic ties 49 years ago and cooperation in various fields has yielded fruitful results.

The two nations have supported and cooperated with each other in international affairs, he said, adding that China appreciates Guinea's adherence to the one-China policy and hopes to strengthen friendly exchange, intensify cooperation for mutual benefit and promote bilateral ties.

Xu also met with Guinea's Minister of Mines and Geology Lounceng Nabe on Friday and signed a memorandum of understanding with him.